Data & Research July 26, 2017

Never Being Able to Retire is Americans’ Biggest Financial Fear

That is followed by living paycheck to paycheck and never being able to climb out of debt.
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Twenty-two percent of Americans fear that they will never be able to retire, GOBankingRates found in a survey. Americans’ next biggest financial fear is living paycheck to paycheck, cited by 20%. The next top fears are living in debt forever (18%), losing their jobs (16%), losing all of their money in the stock market (11%), never being able to afford a home (8%) and always having a low credit score (4%).

For men, the top three concerns are never being able to retire (23%), followed by living paycheck to paycheck, living in debt forever and losing their jobs (all three tied at 17%), and losing all of their money in the stock market (14%). Women’s top three concerns are living paycheck to paycheck (25%), never being able to retire (20%) and living in debt forever (18%).

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“As our study indicates, money is clearly on the minds of most Americans,” says Cameron Huddleston, Life + Money columnist for GOBankingRates. “Many are finding it challenging to stick to a budget, plan for retirement or take other steps to get their finances under control. That’s why it is so important for people to take the time to educate themselves about personal finance, or even get the help of a financial planner, so that they can overcome these challenges.”

Data & Research July 26, 2017

More Americans Participating in Their Retirement Plan, ICI Says

Nearly two-thirds, 63%, of those between the ages of 26 and 64 participated in their plan directly or through their spouse.
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Relying on newly available data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Investment Company Institute (ICI) found that 63% of Americans between the ages of 26 and 64 participate in their companies’ retirement plans, either directly or through their spouse. These findings from the ICI report “Who Participates in Retirement Plans?” run contrary to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s Current Population Survey (CPS), which, ICI says, underestimated retirement plan participation between 2008 and 2013 by five percentage points.

“More American workers are benefiting from employer plans than the conventional wisdom would suggest,” says ICI Senior Economist Peter Brady, who wrote the ICI report. “The most commonly cited statistics underestimate retirement plan participation, [and] most statistics lump together younger and older workers, ignoring the fact that participation rate increases as workers approach retirement.”

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The IRS data shows that 52% of those between the ages of 26 and 34 participate in their retirement plan. That increases to 63% for those between the ages of 35 and 44, 67% for those between the ages of 45 and 54 and 68% for those between the ages of 55 and 64.

The data also indicate that participation increases as income rises. Seventy-three percent of individual filers with adjusted gross incomes (AGIs) of $20,000 or more and joint filers with AGIs of $40,000 or more participated in their retirement plans directly or through a spouse. That rises to 85% of those with AGIs of $100,000 or more.

ICI’s full report, “Who Participates in Retirement Plans,” can be downloaded here.

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